P h o t o g r a p h y

Italy

Italy - officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in south-central Europe. The territory of Italy covers some 116,347 sq. mi./301,338 sq. km, has a population of about 60 million people (as of 2011), and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Rome is the capital and largest city in the country. Italy has a unitary parliamentary republic government and is subdivided into 20 regions. Italy is a founding member of the European Union (EU), and of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and was admitted to the United Nations in 1955. Through much of its post-Roman history, Italy was fragmented into numerous kingdoms and city-states (such as the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the Duchy of Milan), but was unified in 1861, following a tumultuous period in history known as "The Resurgence". In the late 19th century, through World War I, and to World War II, Italy possessed a colonial empire, which extended its rule to Libya, Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia, and Albania. An official "Italian Empire" was proclaimed on 9 May 1936 following the conquering of Ethiopia. Italy sided with Nazi Germany during World War II and initially enjoyed successes. However, Allied forces eventually captured Italian overseas colonies and by the time Italy itself was invaded in 1943, its empire had all but ceased to exist.

Still Imagery includes:
1. Duomo di Milano - the cathedral church of Milan in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. The Gothic cathedral took nearly six centuries to complete. It is the largest Gothic cathedral and the second largest Catholic cathedral in the world, and largest in Italy (at 40,000 capacity, and 515 ft./157 m long).
2. The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is a covered double arcade formed of two glass-vaulted arcades at right angles intersecting in an octagon, prominently sited on the northern side of the Piazza del Duomo in Milan, and connects to the Piazza della Scala. Named after the first king of united Italy, it was originally designed in 1861 and built by Giuseppe Mengoni between 1865 and 1877.
3. Castello Sforzesco (Sforza Castle) - a castle in Milan that used to be the seat and residence of the Duchy of Milan and one of the biggest citadels in Europe and now houses several of the city's museums and art collections. The original construction on the site began in the 14th century. In 1450, Francesco Sforza began reconstruction of the castle.
4. Arch of Peace - the works for arch construction started in 1806 thanks to Luigi Cagnola, who was asked by Napoleon to build a celebrative arch. After Napoleon’s defeat of Waterloo, the arch was not completed and in 1826 Franz I of Austria ordered to finish the construction, because he wanted to dedicate the Arch to the European Peace reached in 1815. When Cagnola died in 1833, the Arch was finished by Francesco Peverelli and Francesco Londonio. It was inaugurated on September 10th, 1838 by the Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria.
5. The Borromean Islands - are a group of three small islands (Isola Bella, Madre and Pescatori - also known as Isola Superiore, in the Italian part of Lago Maggiore, located in the western arm of the lake, between Verbania to the north and Stresa to the south.